The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(07-27-2016 10:20 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  I think the TV, or lack there of, is more a function of is not being good at anything than it is about poor ratings. Our basketball and football programs just aren't compelling at this time. Football just isn't very good, and we have a basketball program that hovers solidly between 4th and 5th best in a crappy conference while scoring 50 points a game. When your set the Kool aid down and take the blue colored glasses off, that just doesn't make for good TV.

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We've only been in CUSA 2 seasons and we finished 4th and 3rd and lost by 2 in the championship game last season and the early ESPN bracket has us winning.

ODU football and men's basketball hasn't done enough to warrant more TV coverage. No bowl game, no NCAA appearances, and a dearth of CUSA championships across the board the past few years in all sports. For whatever reason, its been a pretty mediocre stretch for the Monarchs in most sports.

(07-27-2016 01:05 PM)Cr8n Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 10:20 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  I think the TV, or lack there of, is more a function of is not being good at anything than it is about poor ratings. Our basketball and football programs just aren't compelling at this time. Football just isn't very good, and we have a basketball program that hovers solidly between 4th and 5th best in a crappy conference while scoring 50 points a game. When your set the Kool aid down and take the blue colored glasses off, that just doesn't make for good TV.

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We've only been in CUSA 2 seasons and we finished 4th and 3rd and lost by 2 in the championship game last season and the early ESPN bracket has us winning.

Hey, get your optimism out of here! We are ranting can't you see.

To continue with my rant and to argue with you because I have nothing better to do with my time, I think finishing 4th and 3rd and losing in the championship game is still not where our fans think we deserve to be. In this "horrible" CUSA, we should be consistently finishing at the top and making it to the NCAAs every year. Our conference RPI was in the 20s last year. It should be our conference to lose. I am hopeful for this year though, as I am every year.

(07-27-2016 02:25 PM)odu09 Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 01:05 PM)Cr8n Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 10:20 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  I think the TV, or lack there of, is more a function of is not being good at anything than it is about poor ratings. Our basketball and football programs just aren't compelling at this time. Football just isn't very good, and we have a basketball program that hovers solidly between 4th and 5th best in a crappy conference while scoring 50 points a game. When your set the Kool aid down and take the blue colored glasses off, that just doesn't make for good TV.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

We've only been in CUSA 2 seasons and we finished 4th and 3rd and lost by 2 in the championship game last season and the early ESPN bracket has us winning.

Hey, get your optimism out of here! We are ranting can't you see.

To continue with my rant and to argue with you because I have nothing better to do with my time, I think finishing 4th and 3rd and losing in the championship game is still not where our fans think we deserve to be. In this "horrible" CUSA, we should be consistently finishing at the top and making it to the NCAAs every year. Our conference RPI was in the 20s last year. It should be our conference to lose. I am hopeful for this year though, as I am every year.

CUSA is structured differently than the other bottom-half conferences in that there's still good teams in it, it's just that it's also got an outsize number of teams with RPIs below 200 and 300. But UAB, Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky, UTEP, Charlotte and Rice are still tough outs. It's like the worst of both worlds: the top-tier competitiveness of better conferences with the overall RPI of the Big South.

haha yeah, sorry. =]

Yeah, that's true it is a perfect storm in sorts. The top 4-6 are tough outs for anyone in the country and beat up on each other. So 1 or 2 bad games and your RPI is bent over backwards if you slip on anyone in conf play.

To further illustrate the point:

Last year CUSA was 22nd in RPI. But it had two teams in the top 100 (78. Middle Tennessee and 88. UAB), three more teams between 101-150 (122. Louisiana Tech, 128. Marshall, 140. ODU), and one team just outside the top 150 (153. Western Kentucky). Now that's not exactly a murderers' row, but it's a pretty solid core of teams.

By comparison:

21. Ohio Valley -- one top 100 team (98. Belmont), two 101-150 teams (127. Morehead State and 134. Tennessee Tech) and one team just outside the top 150 (152. Tennessee State)
20. Horizon -- one top 100 team (49. Valparaiso), three 101-150 teams (112. Green Bay, 116. Oakland, 146. Wright State)
19. MAAC -- two top 100 teams (52. Monmouth, 77. Iona), two 101-150 teams (104. Siena, 142. Fairfield)
18. Southern -- two top 100 teams (50. Chatatnooga, 85. East Tennessee State
17. Sun Belt -- two top 100 teams (42. UALR, 95. Louisiana-Monroe), one 101-150 team (105. UT Arlington), one team just outside the top 150 (157. Louisiana-Lafayette)
16. Ivy -- two top 100 teams (39. Princeton, 44. Yale), one team between 101-150 (132. Columbia)
15. Big West -- four top 100 teams (75. Irvine, 79. Long Beach State, 80. Hawaii, 97. UC Santa Barbara).

Other higher-ranked conferences may have had better No. 1 teams, or better teams 1-3 or 1-4, but CUSA's top six was at least as good, if not markedly better, than the top six of any conference I listed (the Big West's 5-6 teams were 236 and 267).

The closest RPI analog to CUSA's 1-6 is No. 13 Missouri Valley (47. Wichita State, 70. Northern Iowa, 93. Evansville, 114. Illinois State, 138. Southern Illinois, 172. Indiana State). The MVC is stronger, but not overwhelmingly so outside of Wichita)

But the other eight teams being ranked lower than 200, six of which were lower than 270 (!), pretty much took whatever credibility the CUSA's top six created and pissed all over it, covered it in olives and then took a dump on it.

So it's a bad conference, but in essence, winning CUSA is almost as difficult as winning the MVC. Except there's a lot more tomato cans, which means you don't get even half the credit for it. And then you lose to one of those cans, and it's a freefall into the bowels of the latest third-tier postseason tournament to pop up like a mushroom after a summer thunderstorm.

tl;dr CUSA's metrics suck but it's not an embarrassment to ODU that they aren't going undefeated in it.

(07-27-2016 05:04 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  To further illustrate the point:

Last year CUSA was 22nd in RPI. But it had two teams in the top 100 (78. Middle Tennessee and 88. UAB), three more teams between 101-150 (122. Louisiana Tech, 128. Marshall, 140. ODU), and one team just outside the top 150 (153. Western Kentucky). Now that's not exactly a murderers' row, but it's a pretty solid core of teams.

By comparison:

21. Ohio Valley -- one top 100 team (98. Belmont), two 101-150 teams (127. Morehead State and 134. Tennessee Tech) and one team just outside the top 150 (152. Tennessee State)
20. Horizon -- one top 100 team (49. Valparaiso), three 101-150 teams (112. Green Bay, 116. Oakland, 146. Wright State)
19. MAAC -- two top 100 teams (52. Monmouth, 77. Iona), two 101-150 teams (104. Siena, 142. Fairfield)
18. Southern -- two top 100 teams (50. Chatatnooga, 85. East Tennessee State
17. Sun Belt -- two top 100 teams (42. UALR, 95. Louisiana-Monroe), one 101-150 team (105. UT Arlington), one team just outside the top 150 (157. Louisiana-Lafayette)
16. Ivy -- two top 100 teams (39. Princeton, 44. Yale), one team between 101-150 (132. Columbia)
15. Big West -- four top 100 teams (75. Irvine, 79. Long Beach State, 80. Hawaii, 97. UC Santa Barbara).

Other higher-ranked conferences may have had better No. 1 teams, or better teams 1-3 or 1-4, but CUSA's top six was at least as good, if not markedly better, than the top six of any conference I listed (the Big West's 5-6 teams were 236 and 267).

The closest RPI analog to CUSA's 1-6 is No. 13 Missouri Valley (47. Wichita State, 70. Northern Iowa, 93. Evansville, 114. Illinois State, 138. Southern Illinois, 172. Indiana State). The MVC is stronger, but not overwhelmingly so outside of Wichita)

But the other eight teams being ranked lower than 200, six of which were lower than 270 (!), pretty much took whatever credibility the CUSA's top six created and pissed all over it, covered it in olives and then took a dump on it.

So it's a bad conference, but in essence, winning CUSA is almost as difficult as winning the MVC. Except there's a lot more tomato cans, which means you don't get even half the credit for it. And then you lose to one of those cans, and it's a freefall into the bowels of the latest third-tier postseason tournament to pop up like a mushroom after a summer thunderstorm.

tl;dr CUSA's metrics suck but it's not an embarrassment to ODU that they aren't going undefeated in it.

Good assessment.

(07-27-2016 05:04 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  To further illustrate the point:

Last year CUSA was 22nd in RPI. But it had two teams in the top 100 (78. Middle Tennessee and 88. UAB), three more teams between 101-150 (122. Louisiana Tech, 128. Marshall, 140. ODU), and one team just outside the top 150 (153. Western Kentucky). Now that's not exactly a murderers' row, but it's a pretty solid core of teams.

By comparison:

21. Ohio Valley -- one top 100 team (98. Belmont), two 101-150 teams (127. Morehead State and 134. Tennessee Tech) and one team just outside the top 150 (152. Tennessee State)
20. Horizon -- one top 100 team (49. Valparaiso), three 101-150 teams (112. Green Bay, 116. Oakland, 146. Wright State)
19. MAAC -- two top 100 teams (52. Monmouth, 77. Iona), two 101-150 teams (104. Siena, 142. Fairfield)
18. Southern -- two top 100 teams (50. Chatatnooga, 85. East Tennessee State
17. Sun Belt -- two top 100 teams (42. UALR, 95. Louisiana-Monroe), one 101-150 team (105. UT Arlington), one team just outside the top 150 (157. Louisiana-Lafayette)
16. Ivy -- two top 100 teams (39. Princeton, 44. Yale), one team between 101-150 (132. Columbia)
15. Big West -- four top 100 teams (75. Irvine, 79. Long Beach State, 80. Hawaii, 97. UC Santa Barbara).

Other higher-ranked conferences may have had better No. 1 teams, or better teams 1-3 or 1-4, but CUSA's top six was at least as good, if not markedly better, than the top six of any conference I listed (the Big West's 5-6 teams were 236 and 267).

The closest RPI analog to CUSA's 1-6 is No. 13 Missouri Valley (47. Wichita State, 70. Northern Iowa, 93. Evansville, 114. Illinois State, 138. Southern Illinois, 172. Indiana State). The MVC is stronger, but not overwhelmingly so outside of Wichita)

But the other eight teams being ranked lower than 200, six of which were lower than 270 (!), pretty much took whatever credibility the CUSA's top six created and pissed all over it, covered it in olives and then took a dump on it.

So it's a bad conference, but in essence, winning CUSA is almost as difficult as winning the MVC. Except there's a lot more tomato cans, which means you don't get even half the credit for it. And then you lose to one of those cans, and it's a freefall into the bowels of the latest third-tier postseason tournament to pop up like a mushroom after a summer thunderstorm.

tl;dr CUSA's metrics suck but it's not an embarrassment to ODU that they aren't going undefeated in it.

The one thing you left out of that the top CUSA teams did not amass those RPIs by actually beating anybody good during the regular season.

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Winning solves everything, people love winners.

(07-27-2016 05:04 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  To further illustrate the point:

Last year CUSA was 22nd in RPI. But it had two teams in the top 100 (78. Middle Tennessee and 88. UAB), three more teams between 101-150 (122. Louisiana Tech, 128. Marshall, 140. ODU), and one team just outside the top 150 (153. Western Kentucky). Now that's not exactly a murderers' row, but it's a pretty solid core of teams.

By comparison:

21. Ohio Valley -- one top 100 team (98. Belmont), two 101-150 teams (127. Morehead State and 134. Tennessee Tech) and one team just outside the top 150 (152. Tennessee State)
20. Horizon -- one top 100 team (49. Valparaiso), three 101-150 teams (112. Green Bay, 116. Oakland, 146. Wright State)
19. MAAC -- two top 100 teams (52. Monmouth, 77. Iona), two 101-150 teams (104. Siena, 142. Fairfield)
18. Southern -- two top 100 teams (50. Chatatnooga, 85. East Tennessee State
17. Sun Belt -- two top 100 teams (42. UALR, 95. Louisiana-Monroe), one 101-150 team (105. UT Arlington), one team just outside the top 150 (157. Louisiana-Lafayette)
16. Ivy -- two top 100 teams (39. Princeton, 44. Yale), one team between 101-150 (132. Columbia)
15. Big West -- four top 100 teams (75. Irvine, 79. Long Beach State, 80. Hawaii, 97. UC Santa Barbara).

Other higher-ranked conferences may have had better No. 1 teams, or better teams 1-3 or 1-4, but CUSA's top six was at least as good, if not markedly better, than the top six of any conference I listed (the Big West's 5-6 teams were 236 and 267).

The closest RPI analog to CUSA's 1-6 is No. 13 Missouri Valley (47. Wichita State, 70. Northern Iowa, 93. Evansville, 114. Illinois State, 138. Southern Illinois, 172. Indiana State). The MVC is stronger, but not overwhelmingly so outside of Wichita)

But the other eight teams being ranked lower than 200, six of which were lower than 270 (!), pretty much took whatever credibility the CUSA's top six created and pissed all over it, covered it in olives and then took a dump on it.

So it's a bad conference, but in essence, winning CUSA is almost as difficult as winning the MVC. Except there's a lot more tomato cans, which means you don't get even half the credit for it. And then you lose to one of those cans, and it's a freefall into the bowels of the latest third-tier postseason tournament to pop up like a mushroom after a summer thunderstorm.

tl;dr CUSA's metrics suck but it's not an embarrassment to ODU that they aren't going undefeated in it.

Really great write up! You are right - it's still very difficult to win the CUSA based on the top 6 teams. It also doesn't help with travel distance and road trips with trap games in UTEP/UTSA and UAB/MTSU. The WKU/LT trip a really hard one too. I'm curious if the RPI for MTSU includes the win over Michigan State, which would give a serious bump. Still, having our conference winner be at #78 isn't really the biggest thing to brag about. Those trap games against the lower tier teams really doesn't help.

The top of the conference has to schedule better, and they have to win some games during the non con. Until that happens we will be the 20th rated conference, and deservedly so.

I just want to see us do what Memphis did. Win the damn thing before we call out the conference for being weak.

(07-28-2016 07:50 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  I just want to see us do what Memphis did. Win the damn thing before we call out the conference for being weak.

It would be pretty sweet to win the conference championship frequently enough that everyone got tired of us winning so much.

(07-28-2016 07:52 PM)CameramanJ Wrote:  

(07-28-2016 07:50 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  I just want to see us do what Memphis did. Win the damn thing before we call out the conference for being weak.

It would be pretty sweet to win the conference championship frequently enough that everyone got tired of us winning so much.

A nice goal but a high standard. The only schools that come to mind that have done that recently are Memphis, Gonzaga and Kansas.

We really take Kansas for granted. The Big 12 is year in, year out one of the best conferences in the country, often the very best, and Kansas wins it with all the predictability of a high-fiber diet.

Then they get to the NCAAs and immediately go in their pants. Go figure.

EDIT: Quoted the wrong post initially

Wasn't sure where to put this, but a guy on Reddit created wallpaper schedules for every FBS team. Here is ODU for anyone interested.

http://i.imgur.com/ufcVNGZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mv3ksPF.jpg

Reddit source: https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/4v...allpapers/

(07-28-2016 08:19 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  A nice goal but a high standard. The only schools that come to mind that have done that recently are Memphis, Gonzaga and Kansas.

Agreed. We probably couldn't do it which is one of several reasons that ODU fans shouldn't be complaining much about strength of the league. Truth be told, I just want one title at this point. And if we can get 2 out of 4, I'll gladly start running smack to the rest of CUSA.

Waiting for CUSA's version of this.....

http://sunbeltsports.org/news/2016/8/9/F...4.facebook

Only 3 FBS games left that are "non-televised" (i.e. not designated to at least the internet). Hampton @ ODU is one of them.

http://mattsarzsports.com/Schedule/Weekl...6utF-RTEdU

Here is a press release from CUSA about the deal with campus insiders.com. It will show 6 CUSA FB games including our game vs. FAU on Nov. 19.

http://conferenceusa.com/news/2016/8/16/...iders.aspx

Anyone know if the ASN games will be on the actual ASN channel or spread all out through those local affiliates like last season?

(08-16-2016 02:31 PM)monarx Wrote:  Anyone know if the ASN games will be on the actual ASN channel or spread all out through those local affiliates like last season?

I'd say a little of both depending on where you live. We don't have the 24-hr ASN channel that other places have. Either way, since this is their business model you can probably expect it to be a search mission every week to find out.